title: The prevalence of human parvovirus B19 DNA and antibodies in blood donors from four Chinese blood centers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human parvovirus B19 is a common human pathogen that causes a variety of diseases with outcomes ranging from asymptomatic to severe, especially in immunocompromised patients. The B19 virus can be transmitted via blood and/or blood products and its resistance to common viral inactivation and/or removal methods raises the importance of B19-related blood safety. However, the existence, variation, and loading of B19 in Chinese blood donors have not been determined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was developed to detect all three genotypes of the human erythrovirus DNA in plasma samples. In total, 3957 donations from four Chinese blood centers were screened for B19 by real-time minipool nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT). The positive samples were then confirmed by nested PCR and subjected to sequence analysis and alignment for phylogenetic studies. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-based experiment was also performed to identify the prevalence of immunoglobulin (Ig)G and/or IgM antibodies specific to the B19 structural proteins in acquired samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 3957 blood donors, 23 (0.58%) specimens were found positive for B19 DNA. The quantitative DNA levels ranged from 2.48 × 10(2) to 6.38 × 10(4) copies/mL. The phylogenic analyses showed that the prevalent genotypes in Chinese blood donors belong to B19 Genotype 1. A total of 448 samples from Chinese blood donors were investigated for the seroprevalence of B19 antibodies, among which 24.6 and 6.9% of specimens were seropositive for B19 IgG and IgM antibodies, respectively. A total of 2.5% of these samples were positive for both antibody isotypes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whether B19 NAT screening of blood and blood products should be launched in China, larger studies are needed to facilitate an informed decision.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Blood Transfusion, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Changqing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Fuzhu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Julin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xinhong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Yunlai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Jingxing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: Wuping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016732:Parvovirus B19, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral